The Belgian government has recently launched extensive reforms of its corporate law, aiming mainly to simplify and modernise it and so make Belgium a more attractive destination for foreign direct investment.

Starting this year, Brazil has introduced changes to its mandatory corporate tax payer’s registry (CNPJ). The main change is the requirement for corporations to identify ultimate beneficial owners. This was introduced to comply with global developments combatting tax evasion, bribery and money-laundering.

Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) – introduced into Jersey law in 1997- are partnerships that are governed by the terms of their partnership agreements, and have some of the benefits of companies such as a separate legal personality and limited liability for their members. To make the LLP a more attractive vehicle for international businesses, the Jersey LLP law has been updated. The amended law is expected to come into force soon.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced that all its six member states will simultaneously introduce a law to implement value-added tax (VAT) in 2018. The six include: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.